Wild Ginger Hotel

It’s a lovely old school hotel with lots of character. The free breakfast is great offering fresh fruit, bagels, coffee and juice. The staff are very nice and helpful, special thanks to Jason who told us all there is to do on the island and the best places to eat his recommendations were great. Overall very happy with our stay.

I liked the staff and the plants around the property. My husband had no hot water. There was a mold in the shower and a moldy shower curtain. The edges of the rugs in the room were curled, which caused me to trip in the middle of the night. They are a liability and should be removed.

This property was unmaintained, worn out, uncleaned, and unsanitized at all. There were dead bugs all over the room, no hot water, window frames were twisted, and plugged with plastic bags, and moldy bathroom. I do not recommend this property.

I knew I was in trouble when I pulled up and saw a building that had seen better days. Old palm leaves hung from the roof, a non-working military vehicle was parked on the side of the parking lot, and the parking lot itself was covered with large potholes. When I checked in, I saw ear plugs and asked if it was because of road noise (it backs into Highway 19). The clerk said no, it's because birds are noisy in the morning and frogs at night. My room was on the end, backing into the highway. With no AC, you have to leave the windows open. There was no TV and no internet in the room. The hotel looked like it was built in the 1960s and had not seen any maintenance. In Hilo, the rain and humidity play havoc. You have to stay on top of things or they go downhill quickly. Pipes in the bathroom were full of rust, and the baseboards had noticeable termite damage. I've stayed in some dives, but this one is about the diviest. Just because you have a few carved tikis in the foyer doesn't make ti quaint. The bedding did look clean, I'll give them that. I left and drove back to Kona - I was not going to endure road noise all night long!

This backs into Highway 19. With no air conditioning, you're stuck keeping the windows open. They have free earplugs, which should have been a hint. The clerk said they were for the birds in the morning and frogs at night. No, they're for the road noise. The property is NOT maintained. There's lotgs of rust and visible termite damage as well as potholes and an overflowing dumpster in the parking lot. There are no TVs and no Internet in the rooms. I've stayed at some dives before, but this one takes the cake. Just because they put a few carved tikis in the so-called lobby does not make it quaint. I stayed all of 5 minutes before dropping my key by the desk and leaving. I ate the cost of the room for one night. It wasn't worth fighting to sleep with the noise. To top it off, they put me on the end unit, which was the closest to the highway.

The property is self-described as "an old, Hawaiian-style Hotel". The problem with it is the cleanliness. Edges of floors, corners, baseboards all had many dead bugs and too much dirt. Outlets and switches have no covers. The screens and bent and leave gaps. With a little TLC and elbow grease, this hotel could be a charming place. Without higher standards of cleaning, I could not recommend it to anyone.

The friendly service provided by the sweet ladies at the front office belied the condition of this hotel. Water never really got hot and had little flow. Rooms and bath had nowhere to place our things. The loud coqui frogs will likely overrun this place soon and it will be even harder to get get to sleep. We paid for three nights, but left after the first night.